Chandrapur Collector inspects drought-hit paddy, cotton fields in Ballarpur, orders 20% ground truthing
Collector Vasumana Pant visited farms at Ashti Rith and Palasgaon and directed that 20 per cent of the taluka's sown area be physically verified without delay.
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Chandrapur Collector Vasumana Pant visited the villages of Ashti Rith and Palasgaon in Ballarpur taluka today. The tour was held to review crop damage, as drought conditions prevail in the taluka. She went to paddy and cotton fields to see the condition of the crops first-hand and spoke directly to the affected farmers to understand their problems.
The failure of rain in Ballarpur taluka has caused heavy damage to the paddy and cotton crops. The Collector inspected the crops at the farms of Vijay Balaji Bhoyar, Ramdas Bhoyar, Mukunda Madavi and Maruti Madavi at Ashti Rith and Palasgaon, and interacted with them.
She took detailed information from District Superintending Agriculture Officer Shankar Totawar on how the lack of rain has affected the crops, how much the yield is likely to fall, what difficulties the farmers face and how much loss has actually occurred. She instructed that an accurate and objective assessment of the farmers' losses was necessary, and that the process of physical field verification be carried out quickly for this.
Keeping in mind the gravity of the drought situation, Ms Pant directed that ground truthing, that is, physical field verification, of 20 per cent of the total sown area in the taluka be completed urgently and a report submitted so that losses can be assessed objectively.
She also said the revenue, agriculture and Zilla Parishad departments should work in coordination. She said the report on crop damage, based on physical verification of 20 per cent of the total sown area in Ballarpur taluka, should be submitted without delay. As the report will allow the necessary proposals to be sent to the government urgently, she directed that ground truthing be given the highest priority.
Those present on the inspection tour included Ballarpur Sub-Divisional Officer Dr Arjun Pawra, Tahsildar Renuka Kokate, Block Development Officer Dhananjay Salve, Taluka Agriculture Officer Akash Pawar, village revenue officers, assistant agriculture officers, gram panchayat officers, and officials and staff of the departments concerned. Vilas Kumre, Palasgaon sarpanch Sangita Soyam, Vasudev Madavi and farmers from the area were also present.
After the inspection, the Collector also visited a Kesar mango orchard planted at Gram Panchayat Kortimakta under the Viksit Bharat Rozgar and Ajeevika Guarantee (Gramin) scheme (VB-G RAM G) and the District Mineral Fund convergence.
